The swells have barely subsided after Bornholm missed out on the chance to host the summit on the expansion of offshore wind in the Baltic Sea at the last minute. What could have been called "the Bornholm Declaration" instead became "the Marienborg Declaration". Although the PR and branding value has been lost for the island, the work on the large-scale expansion of offshore wind will take place with Bornholm as the center. The lost summit does not change that.
Although the conservative mayor Jacob Trøst is very upset about the lost opportunity, it is not at all his nature to lose his head in anger.
- On a scale from 1 to 10, my annoyance is 11, but it is of no use, says Jacob Trøst and immediately gives a reason for his calm and sensible disposition:
- I am from Jutland and was born in Aarhus, although I grew up in Holbæk.
His annoyance has never gone beyond the striking airport employees who caused the summit to be moved from Bornholm to Marienborg. This is something that has been noticed on the island.
- I have actually received a number of thank-you emails, where I have been praised for maintaining a good tone, says Jacob Trøst.
Housing and labor shortages
The Port of Rønne, which is the center for a large part of the offshore wind shipping in the Baltic Sea, has already announced faster expansion of the port. This means that it will be possible to run several shipping projects at once. At the same time, the Bornholm companies are busy preparing for the work that will come both as a shipping port and later as a service port for the wind farms close to the island.
This is work that Business Center Bornholm is already fully engaged in. While that part is running smoothly, there is another area where the mayor sees the need for action.
- New housing is the agenda that I have been most pressed on since I took office. We cannot offer enough housing already. This applies to both newcomers and those who come here to work for shorter periods, explains Jacob Trøst.
And it is not just one type of housing that is needed now and later with the green expansion of the Baltic Sea.
- We will need all types of housing, from public housing to detached houses. We are currently missing 60 SOSUs, and they may not be able to afford an owner-occupied home. There may also be a number of older citizens on the island who would like to move into something newer that is better insulated, says the mayor, who does not want to focus exclusively on owner-occupied homes, as one might think with a conservative mayor.
- Even though I am a bourgeois, I am very socially conservative. That is why I think it is good that we have a safety net that makes the whole society function, says Jacob Trøst.
The housing stock must also be expanded to include housing, so that it is possible to move to Bornholm to try living on the island.
- It must be such that you can try moving here also as a family with children without immediately having to buy a house, he says.
In fact, work is already underway for the OK Foundation to build a care center and senior housing. And one of the successful Bornholm companies is also investing in housing.
- Ocean Prawns in Nexø is one of the companies with a social conscience, so they use some of their profits in a Bornholm project. On Bornholm, people stand together and help each other. The community here is not lacking, says Jacob Trøst, who himself moved to the island a few years ago.
And there are even other housing investors on their way to the island.
- Now it is also starting to be interesting for other investors to build on Bornholm, and we are also feeling that. In Svaneke, a mix of cooperative, non-profit and owner-occupied housing will be built, explains Jacob Trøst.
Further development of the port
The locomotive in the green development is the port, and it must be expanded even further.
- Some good decisions have been made in the past, and it has proven to be a really good business case. Now there is already a need to expand even more, and that is very important to me. We must try to keep up with the great need that will arise, explains Jacob Trøst.
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